This book is an analysis of the primary documentation from both the Japanese and the United States for the naval Battle off Samar which took place on October 25, 1944. The conclusions of the analysis differ greatly from what has been previously written; there are many revelations about the true role of the famous vessels on each side and about the oft-questioned thinking of the contending admirals. There are hundreds of photos and drawings and several hundred footnotes within the book, each placed within the text at the moment they occurred. This allows the reader to witness the battle as it played out, literally salvo for salvo, with complete confidence in the accuracy of the narration. Essential reading for anyone interested in battleship combat, the naval history of World War II, the Battle off Samar, or the U.S. and Japanese navies.

YAMATO SHIRTS, POSTERS, MUGS, CAPS NOW AVAILABLE AT THE YAMATO ZAZZLE STORE:

PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING NAVIGATION INSTRUCTIONS BEFORE TRYING TO OPEN UP ANY PHOTOS ON THE SITE.

THE PAGE LINKS ARE THE SMALL NUMBERS ON THE LEFT, JUST ABOVE THE INDEX PHOTOS. TO ENLARGE PHOTOS, CLICK ON THE THUMBNAIL YOU WANT TO SEE, THEN CLICK ON THE ENLARGED PHOTO IN THE LOWER RIGHT-HAND CORNER OF THIS PAGE AND FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS.

All of the archive photos in this gallery were obtained by various researchers from the National Archives of the United States, and the US Navy Archives, and are in the Public Domain.

LINKS:

These will be of interest to all Yamato, Musashi, IJN, & warship fans:

A remarkable photo from 1941 shows myriad details of the Yamato's rear aircraft deck, side 6-inch guns that were replaced by AA guns later in the war, as well as the aft superstructure and main turret #3.

A FEW RANDOM THOUGHTS ON YAMATO - PART III:

Almost all Japanese photos of Battleship Yamato were destroyed in the wholesale burning of military archives after Japan's capitulation (but before the US forces came ashore).

As a result, there has been a fascination among Yamato fans as to exactly what the ship looked like during the different stages of the war. As you will see, she - and her sister ship, Musashi - went through at least 3 different deck and gun configuration phases between 1941 and 1945.

Please note, however, that there undoubtedly are a few other obscure archival photos of the Yamato in action (almost all taken by the US Navy planes that tried, and ultimately succeeded, in sinking her). If you happen to have an archival photo of Yamato or Musashi that is not on this website, I humbly ask you to leave me a comment with your email address and I will get back to you.

The photos in this album are basically arranged in chronological order, and are accompanied by text describing when and where they were taken, their significance, (if known).